We live in a small village outside of La Rochelle called Clavette. It’s a village of 908 people with a mixture of both young and old. There are young couples with children going to the local elementary school and the older folk who have been living here since the early 1940s. Most small villages in France have slowly died because most of the young people moved to the larger cities to find work just as it has occured to most rural communities in the past.

But for some time now these small rural villages which are normally located just outside some larger town have opened up new home developments just on their borders. These developments have come about because the land owners of the past, who were farmers by trade, have now reached retirement age or have died. Their children, who did not want to continue in their parents footsteps, are now selling these properties to land developers. Also sometimes it is the widow of these farmers that are also selling their property. Of course, there are other factors that may have influenced the availability of this land but this explanation is a common one.

The young people who previously left the rural community for the big city are now approaching retirement age or want a change of life style from the stress of  this big city life. Even if a small village doesn’t have all the stores to support the needs of this new community, everyone has a car now and large shopping malls are usually within a short driving distance. Therefore these large city dwellers are able to find all the services that they are use to. This short drive to a mall is nothing compared to what they experienced with the traffic in Paris. For them its an ideal rural life style.

New home developments means new taxes being poured back into these small villages. These same small villages are finding new available revenues to improve their communities.

A few weeks ago the over 60 years old crowd were invited to a meal at the local community center. It was completely FREE and didn’t cost us anything. There were at least a 100 people. Now remember this is a community of 908 people not Paris. This meal was out of this world and I have eaten some pretty great meals since coming to France. Of course there were all the courses. Excellent wines, Champagne and an exceptional dessert with a great cup of coffee at the end. Also during the meal there was a professional singer who sang by heart all the old songs that the French know. He had an accordion that played by itself, while he played the guitar. He had a great voice also. What a treat ! I would definitely call this Michelin restaurant quality in a small village outside of La Rochelle.

It looks like big city money is coming back to small town France.

Is life good in France or what ?